Battle Over Galar
by MatsuHerO
Summary: Matsu and his team face a threat in the skies over the newest Pokemon region, Galar.


Jon Her-O sat across the table from the newcomer Ness who was supposedly his half-brother. There were some similarities: they both had black hair and were men of few words. Other than that, they had completely different body types and, indeed, physiologies. There was also the fact that Matsu himself seemed to not be much older than Jon himself but he supposed a man with the power of Matsu Her-O could swing such things, should he want.  
There was still the mystery of Ness Her-O. Jon looked towards him. "I suppose we should try to get along. You know, you're not the first half-brother I've had. Back in Westeros, I had a great many. Only one still lives. I also have two half-sisters."  
"Okay," said Ness, smiling.  
"I heard that you have a dog. I have a dire wolf, named Ghost." Ghost was currently at his feet, napping.  
"Okay," repeated Ness.  
"I suppose that means yes. I can tell you're going to be a tough nut to crack, as the saying goes."  
Pokemaster Terrapin walked up to the table, hat in hand. He looked unnerved and Jon's heart went out to him. He knew what it was like to be unwanted. The Pokemaster said, meekly, "Matsu said he wanted me to take Ghost to the hold with Gamera."  
"I think not," said Jon, and he saw Ness's brow furrow. Perhaps this young man was more brotherly than it first seemed.  
"I don't want to take him to the hold. I think he wants some kind of weird menagerie and he expects me to take care of all these creatures but he doesn't seem to understand that I'm a Pokemaster. I'm not a Breeder. I put them in little balls to get sent to a computer," bemoaned Terrapin, whose face then brightened. "Look, what if I take Ghost there but don't lock the door or anything so he can come right back? Matsu just said I have to take him to the hold, not that he has to stay there."  
"You seek to dishonor my father with lies and half-truths," said Jon, standing. "Are you nothing but a common cur?"  
Terrapin was distraught. "You said I couldn't take Ghost to begin with, but now you're saying I have to take him and keep him? Could you make up your mind, please?"  
"My mind is made up," said Jon, standing up and drawing his blade. Ghost stood up and started growling at Terrapin, and even Ness joined his brother with telekinetic energy surging at his fingertips.  
"So this is how I die," whispered Terrapin. He drew a Pokeball and said, "Go Shuckle!"

On the ship's deck, Matsu was sitting with Ethan and the Schmidt brothers and playing Risk, but a special version of Risk where everyone else fought against Matsu who only had one special token: the Her-O. He was winning. Matsa was sitting at the controls, interfacing her hard light Night Elf body with the Armageddon Zebra's systems. She looked half-asleep but sat up with a start.  
"Matsu! There's trouble brewing in the Pokemon universe!"  
With one mighty swing, Matsu knocked the entire Risk game off the table and onto the floor. The game was over. "Then we should set out at once!"  
"I'll summon Terrapin," said Matsa.  
Matsu held out a hand. "No, I have him doing something else. Something important."  
"It looks like he's gotten into a fight with your son... s. Your sons," said Matsa, who still hadn't gotten used to the fact that Matsu had two of them now.  
"See? He's busy," said Matsu.  
"It's his home dimension. He's going to be upset when he finds out we were there," said Matsa. Ethan laughed at Terrapin's misfortune.  
"I'm sure the situation is dire," said Matsu.  
"It is. The mysterious foe you vanquished there before is back and means business," declared Matsa.  
"Okay! Matsa, Ethan, Schmidt brothers, you're with me!"

The mysterious man floated over Galar and took stock of its inhabitants, cloaked in the darkness of a cloudy night. Like the other regions of this world, they were filled with Pokemon and pre-teens which made it ripe pickings for his mistress, the Neo Crystal Empress. He was flanked by four lesser Senshi and even some of the Shoggothians. If they were able to take over this region, they could use it as a foothold to conquer the rest of this world and there was no way the Fictosphere could withstand the might of an assembled Pokemon Senshi Shoggothian army. Not even that fool, Matsu Her-O, would be able to stand against them.  
The mystery man heard someone say "Wanna bet?" just before they punched him in the face and was baffled as to how there were able to respond to something that was just being thought. It didn't matter, as he could see five figures: Matsa She-Ro, Ethan Crane, the Schmidt brothers, and Matsu Her-O himself. Ethan and the Schmidt brothers had jetpacks which is how they were able to be in the sky like this. Those of the Schmidt brothers combined with their condiment canisters to create the image of something turtular.  
The man asked, "Hold on, wasn't there a Pokemon trainer on your team?"  
"He was busy," said Matsu, flying up to punch the mystery man in the face.

Matsa and the others were busy fighting off the relatively small army the mystery man. Ethan kept rolling dice before he attacked while the Schmidt brothers surged forward with their battle squids and condiment-bending powers. It wasn't long before the Senshi and Shoggothians were all sent back to wherever they'd come from, R'lyeh or Neo Tokyo or wherever, which only left Matsu Her-O with his opponent. All of Matsu's lieutenants knew better than to interfere, especially since tangling with someone capable of going toe-to-toe with Matsu Her-O for this long would probably spell their doom.  
"You leave me no choice," said Matsu, and he began to power up his attack which was like a Kamehameha but a lot cooler and stronger.  
"The choice is mine," replied the stranger, who mimicked Matsu's motions.  
As one, they launched their attacks, which met in the air and it became a battle of wills to see whose energy attack would over the other's.  
Matsa scanned the attack and gasped when she realized what was going to happen.  
"The power contained in those attacks is going to destroy Galar," she cried.  
Ethan asked, "And us? So we should probably leave, then?"  
"Nay, ye fanged beastie," said one of the Schmidts. "We came here to save yon land, so that's what we'll do."  
"If only Terrapin were here, he might be able to mount some sort of Pokemon defense against the blast. Maybe putting up a screen of light to safeguard against the energy attack," said Matsa.  
The other Schmidt asked, "Och! What if we move yon battlers?"  
"That would require a concentrated attack on both of them at once, and we'd have to move them both up and over," said Matsa.  
One of the Schmidts grinned. "My ketchup is up to the task if my brother thinks his mustard can cut it."  
"Aye, I reckon ye'll be playin' catch-up 'fore too long," said his brother.  
"Stop it with the puns and make sure we don't die," shouted Ethan.  
"We'll have to push them, Ethan, since this amount of power will drain their jetpacks and the amount of control they'll have to exert over their condiment streams will sap their motor functions," said Matsa.  
Ethan frowned. "But then we'll get away before we all die, correct?"  
"Matsu willing," said Matsa, as all four got into place.

Matsu had never faced a being with this much power, not since his early clash with Sailor Moon before she became the Neo Crystal Empress. Even then, he was just a simple young man with the simple goal of marrying his one true love, Sarah, before all of this began and he realized his destiny as the hero of the multiverse. He looked back at all the friends he had made and allies he had earned, and even his multiple sons, and knew that he had not just lived a good life. He had lived the best life. If he died here and now, his only regret be that he failed utterly. It was good to only have that one regret.  
He felt something pressed against him and smelled the mustard and knew that his allies, his friends, knew that this energy battle would destroy Galar if Matsu and his opponent weren't moved a safe distance out of the way. Matsa would be behind that, of course. If only they had someone who could use Pokemon, this battle might have already been over, but no one like that was available.  
Matsu poured on the power and, just as he felt that he had reached his limit, he felt his opponent weaken as well.  
He heard Matsa cry out, "Now, Matsu!"  
It was time to unleash the last of his power, and when he did, his opponent did the same. He hoped his team was out of the way, as the resulting blast engulfed the sky as if the sun itself had exploded within the atmosphere. He could see in the light that they were safely beyond the borders of any of the Pokemon world's regions and that his friends had managed to retreat. He could see one more thing, too: the face his adversary.  
The face that matched his own.  
He looked into his opponent's eyes as he weathered the blast, and then the man simply turned and left, leaving Matsu with nothing but questions.

They returned to the Armageddon Zebra, and while his team went back to their respective quarters to clean up, Matsu sat in his study and pondered what he had just seen. Who was that man, that weird dark doppelganger of himself? He was deep in thought when the door opened. Terrapin, looking as if he had been in the battle, came in trailed by Matsu's sons and Ghost who didn't look much better.  
"I got Ghost to the hold but he escaped," said Terrapin. "He probably shouldn't stay there."  
"Father looks as if he has more important things to worry about than our petty squabble, Pokemaster," said Jon.  
"Okay," added Ness.  
"I do. I just met a man over Galar, a man who matched my moves and power almost exactly. A man who looked just like me," said Matsu grimly.  
Terrapin gaped. "Wait, Galar? You went back to my world without me?"  
Matsu ignored him. He had more important things to worry about.


End file.
